Managed memory solutions use industry-standard interfaces to provide seamless integration with host processors and eliminate the need for host systems to manage the complexity and deficiency of built-in memory devices. A typical managed memory solution integrates memory and an embedded controller. The embedded controller can emulate a block device interface, thus replacing emulation that is commonly performed by the host system.
In some managed memory solutions, an embedded controller in the memory subsystem uses volatile memory to store information related to the current state of the memory subsystem. A copy of this state information is also stored in non-volatile memory of the memory subsystem to preserve the information in case of power loss.
When the memory subsystem is powered up from a powered down or power loss state, the embedded controller reads the state information from non-volatile memory and stores the information in volatile memory for easy access. The process of reading state information from non-volatile memory and storing the state information in volatile memory in the memory subsystem takes time due to overhead and some processing of the state information. This delay, however, is often of no concern when this power down/power up cycle is infrequent (e.g., during initial power up).
To save power, it can be desirable to shut down power to a memory subsystem frequently. Every time the memory subsystem is powered up from a shutdown state, the memory subsystem reads state information from non-volatile memory as previously described. If this shutdown/power up cycle occurs on a regular basis, the additional reads to non-volatile memory and subsequent data processing can cause delay and loss of power which can negate any benefit obtained by frequently shutting down power to the memory subsystem.